Years
by Lover of all that is Animated
Summary: The name is going to change. Lioness and Axel have left, later they return and is shocked at what the find. Lioness/Axel and Shark/? No slash pairings. Slight AU ON HIATUS
1. Their Gone!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own A.T.O.M

I've had this idea for a while, but I don't know if I'll finish this fic, since I'm usually only good for the first few chapters. This is after the first season but before the second and Mr. Lee is not evil.

**Their Gone**

It was late at night and the Aquatic Center was quiet, when footsteps were heard moving through the house. The well-oiled front door swung open without a sound and two figures crept out. The bigger of the two took one last look around before closing the door behind him. Shortly afterwards the sound of a car starting was heard and the headlights sent a ghostly glow through the front of the house before disappearing.

The next morning both Shark and Hawk were woken up by a call coming from the kitchen. Both of them fell from their separate beds and rushed to see what was going on. King was standing there looking at a piece of paper with an unbelieving look.

"What happened?" A ruffled looking Shark asked.

"I found this note on the table." King replied and handed the note to Shark.

It read:

'_We need to take some time off to clear our heads and get some peace and quiet. We decided to travel the world and try to sort things out a bit. We're sorry we didn't tell you, but you have our cell phone numbers, be sure to call us if there's any trouble._

_Bye,_

_Axel and Lioness'_

"What's wrong?" Hawk asked when Shark went uncharacteristically quiet and the note was handed to him.

He stared at it the same way the rest of them had.

"How could they do that?!" King asked loudly.

"Yeah! They didn't even tell us to our faces." Shark agreed.

"After those useless trips we went on to find Axel's dad, they wouldn't even tell us their leaving!" Hawk told them indignantly and started pacing the room.

"We saved them more times than we can count and then they sneak off in the middle of the night." King said storming out of the room.

"If they want to be that way, we'll just take care of the city ourselves!" Hawk said and went to take a shower. Shortly afterwards Shark left the room to go dress.

* * *

First chapter! Probably not that good and really short.

Please review! -_LOATIA_


	2. Their Back!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own A.T.O.M

Second chapter! I'm kind of bored this weekend.

**Their Back!**

The next five years passed quickly and everyone eventually forgave Axel and Lioness for their actions, though the whole subject was just a little tender and was usually avoided as much as possible.

The whole center was changed two years after the _incident_ and everyone agreed it looked better than it did before. A new member also joined the team a few months after Axel and Lioness left and they now stood at a proud four. Shark and King hadn't changed much, they had changed their clothes a bit and they were a bit more mature. The same could not be said for Hawk, he didn't change just a bit, he changed a _lot_, mostly due to a startling revelation made right before the fourth member joined the team.

The city of Landmark remained mostly the same, except for a few more 'Captain Doughnut' shops opening around the city, much to the delight of King. Lee Industries had also expanded, much to the surprise of the team since they thought it couldn't expand further, and the team made more than enough money testing various equipment.

It was early on a sunny morning when a black and orange car drove up in the Aquatic Centers driveway and two people stepped out. The first was a woman with caramel skin and long brunette hair that was tied in a ponytail; she wore a green and white striped sundress and green flip-flops. The second person to emerge from the car was a young man with slightly tanned skin, his dark brown hair was spiked and he wore a pair of black, knee length shorts and an orange t-shirt. They both looked in awe at the building before them.

They stepped up to the large front door before taking a hesitating look at each other before the man pressed the doorbell. They could hear it ring in the house and waited for a few agonizing moments before the woman reached over and pressed the doorbell a few times in rapid succession. A few moments later a voice drifted form inside.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, no need to bite my head off." it said annoyed.

Moments later a massive figure appeared behind the sandblasted glass doors and they could hear a lock click from inside. The door was pulled open and a head was stuck out.

"What do you want so early...?" It trailed off and King stared at the two people outside the door. "Holy cow!"

The door was opened completely and the two of them were soon enveloped on a bear hug before they were pelted with questions and dragged inside.

"Where were you?" King asked them.

"Everywhere." Lioness replied with a grin.

"Great! Sorry, the others are still asleep; can I get you something to drink?" King questioned and led them through the large house.

"Coffee please." Axel said and examined the house.

"Coming up." he said disappearing around a corner, moments later his head popped around the corner and said, "Make yourself at home, since this _is _technically your home." Then he disappeared again.

The room Axel and Lioness found themselves in was big, to say the least. It had a high roof and was furnished in several multi colored couches and seats. There was a massive plasma TV on one side of the room, surrounded by yellow and blue couches. On the other side of the room there was a bookcase that stretched half of the wall and also had a few red and black couches around. The green walls were covered in splashes of paint and it looked like someone had a paintball gun fight there which, knowing their friends was not entirely impossible.

Axel took a seat on a yellow couch while Lioness went and examined the bookcase while he looked out the huge picture window which took up the entire front wall. A while later King came in holding a tray of mugs and set it down on a lime-green and purple coffee table. Then he took a seat across from Axel and Lioness, who had just sat down.

"What did you do the last few years?" King asked with a grin.

"We traveled the world, though we did stay half a year in Japan." Lioness answered with a smile of her own. "We went to Hawaii and we walked on the Great Wall of China."

"That's wonderful!" King said, looking a bit put down, but he still wore a smile.

"I proposed to her at the Taj Mahal." Axel said happily and King's eyes widened.

"You're engaged?" he asked incredulously and they both nodded in agreement. "That's great!"

King gave them another hug and congratulated them when a voice drifted from the kitchen.

"Dude, where's my cereal?" Shark asked and began making his way to the living room, where he heard voices. When he immerged from the doorway he stared in shock at the three people in the living room and then ran to them.

"Your back?" he asked them curiously after he greeted them, "Forever?"

"Yes." Lioness answered with a twinkle in her eye and Shark almost suffocated her.

"Guess what?" King asked Shark.

"What?' Shark questioned.

"Their engaged." King said with a smile.

"What!?" Shark asked again, this time louder. He really was a sight in his penguin pajamas, almost as much as King in his frog ones.

"I proposed a month ago." Axel said looking happily at his friend.

"Me too!" Shark said loudly and gave Axle a hug.

"Huh?" Axel asked confused.

"I proposed a month ago too." Shark said slowly.

"To who?" Lioness asked curiously.

"You know her, she joined the team a while after you...left." Shark replied a bit less happy.

"What's her name?" Axel asked.

"You'll see her in a moment. If I know her, and I do, she and Hawk will wake up in a moment." Just as the words left his mouth a screech rang through the large house.

"_HAWK!"_

Moments later two red and black streaks entered the room and one of the hid behind King, "Save me!" it said and maneuvered from the other black and red figure. When Lioness and Axel finally got over the shock and focused on the figure before them their mouths dropped in shock.

"Samantha?"

"Oh, hey honey. You remember Axel and Lioness?" Shark asked walking over to Sam and giving her a kiss on her cheek.

* * *

Shocker, right?

Please review. -_LOTIA_


	3. Revelations

**Disclaimer: **I don't own A.T.O.M

Next chapter, I suspect nobody thought that Shark and Samantha would be together.

**Revelations**

One thought drifted through both Axel and Lioness' heads and that was: 'What the Hell?'

"Yeah, I remember them." Sam said dryly and shook their hands while they stared at her in shock.

"What are _you _doing in the Center?" Axel asked incredulously and she gave him a look that would have made a lemon look sweet.

"I could ask you the same question." she told them.

"I thought you were with Paine." Axel spat out the name.

"Not after what happened, he tried to kill me in order to get to the team and I realized that he cares about me as much as he cares about you." Sam replied bitterly. "Shark, Hawk and King were kind enough to let me help them."

"You actually _let_ her on the team?" Lioness asked King loudly.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, there were only three of us to go against Paine after he escaped from prison again." King told them, pleasant mood forgotten.

"I'm sorry." Axel apologized, calming down. "I'm sorry we left and that we never even knew Paine escaped again, or else we would've come to help you. Why didn't you call us?"

"We tried to but all we got was static." Hawk said from behind King. Hearing his voice sent Sam into frenzy again and she went to grab him but all that was left of him was a streak that went through the door, Sam followed moments later and her angry calls were heard throughout the whole house.

"What's up with that?" Lioness asked looking at where the two disappeared.

"Their always like that in the morning, you get used to it after a while." Shark replied and Axel gave him a curious look, "Hawk always wakes Sam up in the morning, but he uses some weird methods."

"Like what?" Axel asked.

"Judging by the way she looked, he probably whispered strange things in her ears." King replied and looked at his clothes, "I think we should go get dressed. Are you guys going to stay here?"

"Please. We brought our clothes, just in case." Lioness said and then asked, "Where are we going to stay?"

"I'll show you your room and then I'll leave you to settle in, we'll give you a tour later." Shark said and walked over to the door, Lioness and Axel following behind.

Axel retrieved three bags from the car and Lioness two and the three of them went into the house again. Shark led them through the huge living area and down a hall that was almost unnoticeable. The hall had several paintings decorating it and opened up to the indoor pool. From that room there was a staircase that led up to a platform and then a walkway above the pool, leading to a room.

"You'll be staying here." Shark told them and opened the large black door. "We decorated it to your taste, but we were expecting only one of you to have this room. I'll get going now; meet us at the pool in half an hour." Then he closed the door behind him.

The room they were in had orange walls and a white couch in front of a plasma TV on the left. There was a king-sized bed to the right with black and white covers. There was a large screen door that led to a big balcony. The carpet was dark gray and there was a walk in closet near the couch. Next to the closet was another black door, but this on had an orange door-frame. Lioness walked over and opened it. Inside was a large bathroom. There was black and orange tiles on the floor and the walls were the same as the bedroom. There was also a large square bath with silver taps and a black sink and toilet.

"This is great!" Lioness said and hugged Axel who swung her around in their spacious room. He put her down again, "I thought they would be mad at us."

"It looks like they are a bit." Axel said and gave her a soft kiss. "How could they let Magness on the team?"

"She probably is a great help," Lioness told him, "she can control metal after all."

"I guess so." Axel said reluctantly and walked outside.

"No one will ever replace you." Lioness said and joined him, and then she leaned over and gave him another kiss, before she walked back inside. "We have to get settled in; we'll be staying here for a while after all."

So they set about putting everything in place and talking and left the room a little before the half and hour was up, holding hands. They took the path back downstairs and found the rest of the team already waiting for them, sans Hawk.

King wore a pair of black and white baggy pants and a white T-shirt with white and orange shoes. Shark wore blue jeans and a loose yellow t-shirt with blue letters that red: 'This shark bites.' and blue and yellow shoes. Sam wore a black knee-length skirt and a red and black t-shirt and black flip-flops.

"Where's Hawk?" Lioness asked curiously.

"He said we should start without him, he'll join up with us later." King said and started towards the big room in front of the building again, "You know the living room." he said and gestured at the room and then he went in the direction of what they assumed was the kitchen.

They entered a big black and white room. It was filled with silver appliances and there was a long black counter with white bar stools next to it. The floor was checkered black and white and there was a black and white door leading to the right.

"That's the pantry." Shark explained, "We have everything you could possibly want. Except sweets, we all have our own stash."

They were then led trough a door right across the room from them. This led to another hall, though this one was shorter than the other. There were six doors, three on the left and two on the right as well as one at the end of the hall. One of the doors on the left was bigger than the others and had King's symbol on it.

"This is _my_ hall," King said with a grin, "my room, my study, my hamster's room, my frogs' room and my sweet stash."

"Your hamster has its own room?" Axel as with a raised eyebrow and he looked at King strangely.

"Of course." King said began walking to the door at the end of the hall.

"Don't try to break into his stash room, dude." Shark whispered to Axel, "I've been trying for years and I still haven't found a way to open it yet."

They entered another hall and this one contained a red door on the left and a spiral staircase leading to another level. The halls were both red and black and the staircase was a shocking crimson.

"This is my room." Sam said gesturing to the big, black M on the door. They then began climbing up the staircase. Moments later they reached the top and looked around them.

The floor was pitch black and the walls too. The door in front of them was the same crimson as the staircase. On the door was a red and black version of Hawk's symbol.

"This would be my room." a voice said from behind them and they all spun around quickly.

The person who stood there looked to be a younger Paine.

Cliffy!

Please Review. -_LOATIA_


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